Richard Johnston and Stuart Cappus just received Reasons for Judgment awarding a young woman more than $2 million in damages for injuries and losses she suffered as a result of a serious collision.

While driving home one night, our client was rear-ended by a 1-ton truck going 160km/h and driven by a drunk driver. She suffered various bumps and bruises, multiple soft-tissue injuries, headaches and developed post-traumatic stress disorder. Most significantly, she sustained a herniated disc in her low back that required her to undergo three invasive back surgeries. Her injuries eventually forced her to give up her job as a first aid attendant. At the time of trial, she had been unable to work for four years.

In spite of all that, ICBC refused to admit that the drunk driver was at-fault for the collision. They also argued that our client’s disc herniation wasn’t caused by the collision and viciously attacked her credibility.

At trial, Richard and Stuart presented expert medical evidence from an orthopaedic surgeon, physiatrist, psychiatrist and occupational therapist to prove that our client’s injuries were caused by the collision and would continue to disable her in the future. They also called witnesses to testify about the earning potential for first aid attendants such as our client who worked in the oil and natural gas sectors.

In the end, the judge sided with Richard and Stuart, and awarded our client $2.069 million. This included $200,000 for pain and suffering, and $1.4 million for loss of future earning capacity.

You can click on the link below to read the trial judge’s Reasons for Judgment: